By Arianna Otero
Tallahassee Democrat
There were months of construction and a hurricane-forced delay but the reimagining of Florida's first Capitol was finally debuted to the public on Friday.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the structure, built to resemble the log cabin that was the first state government headquarters, was led by Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey at Cascades park. It's part of the celebration for Tallahassee-Leon County's 200th anniversary.
About 100 people attended, including city staffers, volunteers, park-goers and four of the five members of the Tallahassee City Commission.
"The first Capitol was a log cabin built in 1824 with the establishment of Tallahassee as the territorial capital," the state's website says. "In the early 1820s, legislators transferred government business from St. Augustine to Pensacola for alternating sessions. Travel was hazardous and took almost 20 days."
The cabin is meant to harken back to an earlier age but has to comply with modern standards: It features ceiling fans, glowing red exit signs, lighting and electrical outlets.
And despite the ceremonial ribbon cutting, the cabin still isn't complete. Workers still have to install the floor and decorate with replicated furniture.
"It truly has taken on a life of its own," Dailey said in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. "It was built by the community for the community."
Dailey has been spearheading the First Florida Capitol Project alongside the Bicentennial Steering Committee. The cabin's construction began earlier this summer. It follows the tradition of recreating the first Capitol during the 100- and 150-year anniversary celebrations.
The cabin will be one of the centerpieces of the Tallahassee Bicentennial Festival on Nov. 10, with a special presentation at 4 p.m. on the day of the event. That will be a formal dedication recognizing the 200-year anniversary of the capital city and county.
It takes a village to build a log cabin
Antoine Wright, executive director of Big Bend Habitat for Humanity, told the Democrat there were learning curves for the project but it came together thanks to the many volunteers. Dailey asked his organization to lead the build and help round up volunteers.
"Typically, we don't build in July and August because of the heat ... For this project, we started out in our normal time schedule, kind of doing 7, 8 o'clock on Saturday morning and we shifted it probably in the first two weeks to working in the evenings," Wright said with a laugh, recalling the sweltering heat the volunteers were fighting.
"We had folks coming out, from ages of about 16 up to ... 86," Wright continued. "We have never put a 16-foot log on any house that we have built so that was quite different."
The cabin was framed in modern lumber but covered in logs, donated by Homestead Timbers in Michigan. The lumber for the framing was donated by Mark Carpenter, a seventh-generation descendant of one of the original builders of the first Capitol, Sharrod McCall.
Carpenter hand harvested and personally milled the longleaf white pine used on the project; he even volunteered on build days, driving up from Levy County where he resides. His final touch on the cabin will be the furniture to go inside, which he made himself.
"To participate in a project that my ancestors participated in just ... brings it full circle and I love Florida history," Carpenter said in an interview with the Democrat. "It's so important to get even those who are not native to Florida, but made Florida their home, get them interested in Florida's history."
How long will the cabin be up?
Starting some time in Spring 2025, the cabin will become part of the "Blended Lives" program in Leon County schools in which 4th graders will get to check out the new log cabin.
The cabin will also be the backdrop for Theatre with a Mission's 1-hour play on the history of Florida in the time period of the cabin's heyday.
The cabin is scheduled to be demolished next summer, though that could change, according to Dailey.
Locals will have chances to tour the cabin for themselves, but no times and dates have been scheduled yet.
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